Five Minutes
by Rinusagitora
Summary: HitsuKarin. New Years fic. /She had stopped caring, until he came along./


**Hello everyone! I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. I don't own Bleach and all that jazz. Enjoy.**

XXX

Her cellular read 23:55 in dainty, white numbers. Five minutes until the new year.

She sat alone in the dark, her room dimly illuminated by the light of her mobile that had been thrown haphazardly onto her sheets before she had taken a shower. Her hair was still wet, clumping in fair-sized bundles, sticking to her bare back and face. She hadn't bother to dry herself off, or dress herself for that matter. She was too anxious, too eager waiting for him.

She met him in a pub a month ago just after her fourth boyfriend dumped her. His reasoning was that she wasn't "feminine" enough for him. So after flipping him the birdie and a swift kick to his groin, she wandered into a bar with the intent of drowning her sorrows in a glass of bourbon.

She was alone, for the most part. There was one other patron, but he looked as crabby as she did, so she seated herself on the opposite end of the bar. She had finished downing her second glass when a third- bourbon on the rocks, her favorite. Little bastard was eavesdropping, she deduced- slid down the counter and lost momentum right in front of her. She gave the man a weird look, but the white-haired patron only silently toasted her. Dubious and bewildered, she returned the gesture.

After two more rounds of tossing drinks back and forth (much to the amusement of the bartender,) he approached her and struck up a conversation. It was polite and impersonal, as they both stuck to trivial topics like the ridiculous weather they were having (it had snowed almost three feet in the last week, and then the heat wave they had yesterday melted it all) and the new films releasing in theatres. Then, around one in the morning, they wished each other a good night and called separate taxis. As enjoyable as their banter had been, she never expected to see him again. They hadn't even shared their names.

Four minutes until midnight.

She had been wrong about her assumption that they would never meet again. Three days had passed after their exchange in the pub. She had just got off from her shift at the local clinic when her sister messaged her, demanding she go Christmas shopping with her. Although none too thrilled, she agreed and set out for a cup of coffee.

He was sitting in the back corner when she entered the coffee shop. She was baffled at the coincidence, seeing him sitting nonchalantly with a steaming cup of black coffee in his hand and reading the newspaper. Of all the times she had gone there, she had never once seen him. After ordering her beverage, she quietly deliberated with herself whether or not to greet him, but her legs adopted a mind of their own and sat on the chair across from him.

He was just as surprised as she was to see each other again. He introduced himself as Toushirou Hitsugaya, and she Karin Kurosaki. She learned he was a college student studying for a business degree, and she revealed that she was a clerk employed at a clinic.

As they conversed, he was just as polite and impersonal as the night they first met. They only talked about the weather, college sports, and asked vague, superficial questions about each other's personal lives. And after they finished their coffee, he escorted her to her car outside, slipping her his number and politely requesting she text or call him at her leisure. Although she said she would, she never truly intended to.

Three minutes until midnight.

It had been a very bad day, she recalled. She ran into her second ex on her way to work. As pissed as she was to run into the slimy bastard, the worst part was how he carried on a conversation like she had never stumbled in on him pile-driving into some stranger in their bed. Work had been no better, either. Once she got home, all she wanted was someone to cry with and maybe to eat an entire gallon tub of ice cream together. Only, her sister was busy in retail with Christmas in less than two weeks, her brother was drained from his studies, and her father was in the middle of performing a heart surgery. So she resorted to him.

It was a simple, hey, it's Karin, but he replied within moments, and it made her heart flutter.

I'm pleasantly surprised you messaged me. What've you been up to? It read.

It was so simple, but it made her want to cry for reasons she was not quite brave enough to look into. She had written out an extensive explanation of her day and why it was the second shittiest one of her life, when she realized that he simply didn't care. He was going to turn out just like the rest of her exes- manipulative and sex-driven.

So she erased the message and replied with a mere, fine, what about you?

Two minutes until midnight.

He asked her out to lunch Christmas Eve day. She accepted his proposal, and they met at a diner. They carried on with their normal banter, until he brought up his upcoming exams, and how studying would take up most of his leisure time, most likely leaving him unable to talk. She was fine with that, saying that they were only acquaintances and he had no obligations towards her. He promised he would text her New Years Eve, however. She put no stock into his words. He would turn out to be just like all the other men in her life.

One minute until midnight.

Her boyfriends always told her that she was their one and only, that they'd never go, that she was perfect and beautiful just the way she was. They were just empty words however, hollow and no longer deceiving. Sweet nothings whispered in her ear meant nothing to her anymore, as they would leave in just a few weeks after they grew bored of her.

Forty-five seconds.

He would leave just as soon as he realized she wasn't the cute girl her appearance portrayed, just like the rest. He'd leave just as soon as he realized that she was volatile and frank and crude, just like the rest. He'd leave just as soon as he realized that she was broken and hurt, just like the rest. He'd leave just as soon as he realized that she just wasn't. Interested. Just like the rest of them.

Thirty seconds.

He was no different from the rest of the men she knew. All she had to do was keep her distance, and he would get bored and leave and try to find some other girl to manipulate. Men were simply like that. They cared nothing about who they hurt or how much, as long as their whims were served. He would turn out to be no different.

So then why...

Fifteen seconds.

With that knowledge...

Ten seconds.

Was she...

Five seconds.

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

Bzzzt

She lunged for her phone, reading the message it pictured.

My older sister always makes me make a wish for the new year. Do you?

She read the message over and over, hot tears dripping onto the screen in small puddles.

Yeah. She responded.

For him to be different.


End file.
